Amnesty: 10 000 guns destroyed
2005-03-07 13:29
Johannesburg - The destruction of 10 000 firearms during a gun amnesty was good, but not enough, said Judy Bassingthwaite, director of Gunfree South Africa on Monday.
"The 10 000 guns destroyed this morning will never harm another human being. Yes it's a success, but it's the beginning.
She said: "The manufacture and trade of small arms must be dealt with."
Bassingthwaite was speaking at the international launch of a report called "The impact of guns on women's lives."
Women suffer excessively
The report was presented on the eve of international Women's Day as part of Amnesty International's (AI) Stop Violence Against Women Campaign and the Control Arms Campaign, Oxfam and the International Action Network on Small Arms.
According to the report, women suffered disproportionately from firearm violence, although they were hardly ever the buyers or owners of guns.
In South Africa, like France, one in three women killed by their husbands are shot.
Bassingthwaite said although the Domestic Violence Act gives police the power to remove weapons, they are often not motivated to take violence against women seriously as seriously as they should.
- SAPA